Definition of 'recover'
Word forms: 3rd person singular present tense recovers
, present participle recovering
, past tense, past participle recovered
5. verb
If you recover a mental or physical state, it comes back again. For example, if you recover consciousness, you become conscious again.
6. verb
Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
British English pronunciation
American English pronunciation
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Word Frequency
recover in British English
verb
3.
5. law
Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Derived forms
recoverable (reˈcoverable) adjective
recoverability (reˌcoveraˈbility)
noun
recoverer (reˈcoverer)
noun
Word origin
C14: from Old French recoverer, from Latin recuperāre recuperateWord Frequency
recover in American English
verb transitive
1.
a.
to get back (something lost or stolen)
b.
to regain (health, consciousness, etc.)
3.
a.
to get (oneself) back to a state of control, balance, or composure
4.
to reclaim (land from the sea, useful substances from waste, etc.)
6. Sport
verb intransitive
SYNONYMY NOTE: recover implies a finding or getting back something that one has lost in any manner [to recover stolen property, one's self-possession, etc.]; regain more strongly stresses a winning back of something that has been taken from one [to regain a military objective]; retrieve suggests diligent effort in regaining something [he was determined to retrieve his honor]; recoup implies recovery of an equivalent in compensation [I tried to recoup my losses]; reclaim implies recovery or restoration to a better or useful state [to reclaim wasteland]7.
to regain health, balance, or control
8.
to catch or save oneself from a slip, stumble, self-betrayal, etc.
10. Sport
to recover a ball, puck, etc.
Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th Edition. Copyright © 2010 by
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.
Derived forms
recoverable (reˈcoverable)
adjective
Word Frequency
recover in American English
(rɪˈkʌvər)
transitive verb
1.
to get back or regain (something lost or taken away)
to recover a stolen watch
2.
to make up for or make good (loss, damage, etc., to oneself)
3.
to regain the strength, composure, balance, or the like, of (oneself)
4. Law
5.
to reclaim from a bad state, practice, etc
6.
to regain (a substance) in usable form, as from refuse material or from a waste product or by-product of manufacture; reclaim
8. American Football
to gain or regain possession of (a fumble)
They recovered the ball on their own 20-yard line
intransitive verb
SYNONYMS 1. recover, reclaim, retrieve are to regain literally or figuratively something or someone. to recover is to obtain again what one has lost possession of: to recover a stolen jewel. to reclaim is to bring back from error or wrongdoing, or from a rude or undeveloped state: to reclaim desert land by irrigation. to retrieve is to bring back or restore, esp. something to its former, prosperous state: to retrieve one's fortune. 9. heal, mend, recuperate; rally.9. (often fol. by from)
to recover from an illness
10.
to regain a former and better state or condition
The city soon recovered from the effects of the earthquake
11.
to regain one's strength, composure, balance, etc
13. American Football
to gain or regain possession of a fumble
The Giants recovered in the end zone for a touchdown
14.
to make a recovery in fencing or rowing
Most material © 2005, 1997, 1991 by Penguin Random House LLC. Modified entries © 2019
by Penguin Random House LLC and HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Derived forms
recoverer noun
Word origin
[1300–50; ME recoveren ‹ MF recoverer ‹ L recuperāre to regain, recuperate]Examples of 'recover' in a sentence
recover
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In other languages
recover
British English: recover
/rɪˈkʌvə/ VERB
When you recover from an illness or an injury, you become well again.
He is recovering from a knee injury.
- American English: recover /rɪˈkʌvər/
- Arabic: يَشْفى
- Brazilian Portuguese: recuperar-se
- Chinese: 恢复
- Croatian: oporaviti se
- Czech: uzdravit se
- Danish: komme (sig)
- Dutch: herstellen
- European Spanish: recuperar
- Finnish: toipua
- French: se remettre
- German: erholen (sich)
- Greek: συνέρχομαι
- Italian: guarire
- Japanese: 回復する
- Korean: 회복하다
- Norwegian: friskne til
- Polish: odzyskać
- European Portuguese: recuperar
- Romanian: a se recupera
- Russian: возвращать
- Latin American Spanish: recuperar
- Swedish: tillfriskna
- Thai: หายจาก
- Turkish: iyileşmek
- Ukrainian: одужувати
- Vietnamese: hồi phục
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